


Baring Teeth

by ragnarokdad



Series: Broken, But Still Good [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Single Parents, everyone is human
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 23:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15278427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragnarokdad/pseuds/ragnarokdad
Summary: Tensions keep seeming to climb higher and higher as the summer ends. An unexpected visitor doesn't make it any easier, either. Things are hard; but the best things in life are never easy.





	1. Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back! This is the second proper instalment of BBSG, and I'll be updating it twice a week for the next wee while. 
> 
> As always, I am active on my [tumblr](http://ragnarokdad.tumblr.com/) for any further questions, further writing, and whatnot. Enjoy!

Thor narrowed his eyes from across the kitchen table. Bruce had told Thor not to make a big deal out of it- Loki was just doing it to get a rise out of him, probably- but that did not make him seem any less annoyed. Bruce, who was sitting to Thor’s left, was doing a far better job at pretending that nothing was up.

‘So. This is… new,’ Thor eventually said. Bruce gave him a look, which Thor ignored.

‘What is?’ asked Loki innocently, barely even looking up at Thor.

‘This,’ said Thor, motioning to Loki’s ear, bright red with the aftermath of the helix piercing he had gotten. ‘This new get-up of yours.’

‘Oh, right.’ Loki responded without any further elaboration.

Thor let it go for a moment, returning to his dinner. Bruce looked between the two brothers, trying to think of a way to lighten the tone.

‘Did it hurt?’ asked Bruce.

‘A bit,’ said Loki. ‘It hurts more now than it did when it was actually pierced.’

‘Makes sense,’ responded Bruce. ‘Did they tell you how to take care of it?’

Loki nodded. ‘Yeah, I got all the disinfectant stuff and everything.’

‘That’s good,’ said Bruce. ‘I got my ears pierced when I was your age, but got so lazy with earrings that the piercings just closed up after a while.’

He remembered it well- his father had shouted at him for days for it.

‘You should get them pierced again,’ said Loki.

Bruce chuckled. ‘It wouldn’t really fit with my frumpy science teacher look, unfortunately.’

Thor finally spoke up. ‘I wish you’d asked me first.’

Loki scowled. ‘It wouldn’t have mattered, I would’ve done it anyway.’

‘Even so, you’re fourteen. Don’t you need my written permission?’

‘A friend of mine did it,’ Loki replied nonchalantly. ‘He didn’t care.’

‘Oh, so you have a friend that does body modifications and doesn’t follow state laws? That’s great,’ muttered Thor irritably.

‘You have like, three tattoos!’ countered Loki. ‘Why is this such a big deal?’

‘Because you aren’t supposed to get one without my knowledge!’ Thor retorted. ‘I got my tattoos after I was eighteen! Like you’re supposed to!’

‘It’s one piercing, it’s not even on my face!’ snapped Loki, now rising out of his seat.

‘It’s not about the piercing, it’s about you communicating with me and getting it done safely and legally!’

‘Well, it turned out okay, didn’t it? Bruce doesn’t have a problem with it!’

‘I’m, uh, actually undecided,’ interjected Bruce sheepishly. Loki ignored the comment.

‘You just love acting like dad even though you’re nothing like him,’ Loki snapped at Thor, moving away from the table and storming towards the door of the kitchen.

‘I’m not-‘ before Thor could finish the sentence, Loki slammed the door. ‘I’m not trying to act like dad.’

Bruce smiled at Thor apologetically, reaching over and patting his hand. ‘I think that that conversation was doomed from the get-go.’

Thor sighed, taking Bruce’s hand. ‘High school’s changing him.’

‘That was to be expected, wasn’t it?’ said Bruce. 

Thor shrugged. ‘Things were so nice over the summer, though.’

‘They were,’ agreed Bruce, as he stood up from his chair. ‘They’ll be alright again at some point, though. Come on, let’s clean up.’

 

* * *

 

Since the academic year had started again, Bruce had found himself at Thor’s most evenings. In the back of his mind, he could not push away the feeling that he was imposing by being around so much, despite how many times Thor had insisted that he was welcome- and besides, it was far closer to school than his own apartment.

He was glad that the school year had begun, though. Bruce felt as if he was the only teacher that was not complaining about the workload that was thrown upon them from the first week onwards- he was happy that there was something to occupy his mind. Not that the summer months had been bad; since his talk with Thor, things had vastly improved, but he still preferred the full work schedule. Even though that did mean seeing less of Thor.

- _I’m working until close, come by the bar to pick up my keys if you want x_

It was almost the end of his workday when Bruce received Thor’s text. As he began packing up his satchel, there was a knock on the door and Bruce looked up to see Tony standing in the door.

‘How’s it going?’ he asked as he sauntered in.

‘Not bad, yourself?’ said Bruce, as he continued piling the stacks of marking into his bag.

Tony walked down the centre of the room towards Bruce’s desk, fiddling with a pen that a student had left on the desk. ‘Not bad either. Hey, I have something of a question for you.’

‘And here I thought you were just coming in to make friendly conversation,’ said Bruce with a smile. ‘Should’ve known better.’

‘Hey, I do that all the time,’ Tony responded defensively, pointing the pen at Bruce. ‘Anyway, I heard about a job opening in the chemistry department at the community college. It’s a part-time teaching position, and I thought you might be interested in it.’

Bruce raised his eyebrows. ‘Stephen quit just a few months ago and you’re already trying to get rid of another science teacher?’

Tony chuckled. ‘Trust me, I really don’t want to lose you here. But I’m also your friend, and I know how much you want to teach at college. So, you know, I thought I’d give you a heads-up.’

‘It’s not a bad idea, for sure,’ agreed Bruce. ‘I might apply for it.’

‘Yeah, you should at least try,’ Tony said. ‘I can be your reference and everything.’

‘Thanks,’ said Bruce. ‘Really, I’m glad you thought of me.’

‘No problem,’ answered Tony with a grin as he turned around and began to walk out of the classroom. ‘Let me know when you apply!’

With a wave, he left the room, and Bruce packed up the last of his belongings.

 

* * *

 

By the time Bruce got to the bar, Thor was busy clearing some tables. It did not look particularly busy this afternoon. Thor’s face lit up when he saw Bruce, and he placed the container of dirty dishes somewhere behind the bar, and walked forward, giving Bruce a quick kiss.

‘Hey,’ said Bruce. ‘How’re you?’

‘Not bad,’ said Thor with a smile, placing his hands on Bruce’s shoulders. It amused Bruce how ridiculously touchy Thor was. No matter where they were or what the situation was, Thor had an arm around Bruce or held is hand or just made sure they were physically connected in some way. At first, it had taken some getting used to, but after a while Bruce fell into the habit of mirroring Thor. It was not even a public display of affection, per se; it was more of a comforting routine that they had both fallen into.

‘Oh, here,’ Thor put his hand in his pocket and produced his keys, handing it to Bruce.

‘You don’t even know if I _want_ to stay over tonight,’ said Bruce teasingly.

Thor grinned. ‘Well, in that case, I’ll take the keys back then, won’t I?’

Bruce pocketed the keys. ‘Nah, that won’t be necessary. Do you know if Loki’s home?’

‘No idea,’ answered Thor, his face falling slightly.

‘Have you spoken to him at all since last night?’ asked Bruce.

Thor sighed. ‘I haven’t had the time, nor have I been home at the same time as him. I’ll speak to him tomorrow.’

‘That’s a good idea,’ Bruce said. ‘I’m sure it’ll be fine.’

‘Or he’ll come back with ten piercings and a tattoo just to piss me off,’ said Thor with a grimace.

‘Or that,’ agreed Bruce. ‘But that’s a bridge to cross when we get there. I’ll see you later tonight?’

‘If you’re not asleep by the time I’m done,’ said Thor, before leaning forward and placing a kiss on Bruce’s forehead. Bruce smiled and reached over to give Thor’s arm a quick squeeze, before heading back out of the bar. He’d tell him about the job Tony was talking about tonight, he decided.

The weather was slowly making its way into the days where everything was just right. The sweltering summer months were finally behind them, but the first weeks of autumn were still full of sunshine. The only downside was that Bruce was noticing the days becoming shorter and shorter, something that did not always go hand-in-hand with his mind and mood. But for now, he still had a few more weeks of nice weather to enjoy before the dark and cold days made their way into the city.

After the short walk to Thor’s building, Bruce made his way inside and up the stairs. Once he arrived on the second level, he was caught by surprise when he saw somebody else waiting outside of Thor’s door. A woman with jet-black hair tied neatly back in a well-fitting suit; it was nobody Bruce had ever seen before. She was, simply put (and Bruce felt extremely guilty for thinking this) _gorgeous_. But somehow, also vaguely terrifying.

‘Uh,’ Bruce began, as he walked up to the door. ‘Can I help you?’

‘Hello,’ she said, with a smirk. ‘I’m looking for my brothers.’


	2. Visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor is not particularly welcoming to his sister.

‘Hey, uh,’ Bruce began once Val had finally put Thor on the phone. ‘So this is a bit weird, but someone claiming to be your sister is here.’

There was a beat of silence, before Thor said, ‘I’ll be right over.’

Without another word, he hung up the phone. Bruce, who was hiding in the kitchen making a cup of tea for the unexpected guest, felt awfully confused about the situation. He had wondered if it had been a case of mistaken identity, when the woman who had introduced herself as Hela said she was here for Loki and Thor. Surely Thor wouldn’t keep something like this from him. He knew that Thor probably had his own little secrets, but not something as big as having a whole other sibling that Bruce had never heard of.

He returned to the living room with the mug, where he found Hela scanning through the modest bookcase that Thor had in the living room.

Without turning around as Bruce placed the mug on the coffee table, she asked, ‘So, how do you fit into this little household?’

‘I’m, uh, Thor’s boyfriend, actually,’ Bruce responded.

‘Ah, so I’m sure you’ve heard plenty about me, then,’ she said with a smirk as she turned around. Her voice was like silk.

‘Well uhm, he actually hasn’t mentioned you,’ admitted Bruce.

If Hela was surprised, she did a good job of masking it. Instead she grimaced, and said, ‘Ah, how… secretive of him.’

She wasn’t wrong, but Bruce was not about to tell her that. Thor must have had his reasons. Instead, he shrugged, and was glad to hear the downstairs door slam, accompanied by the sound of feet jogging up the stairs.

‘That must be him, now,’ said Hela, as the front door clicked open. Thor marched through, looking more displeased than Bruce had ever seen him.

‘What are you doing here?’ he demanded to know as he stepped into the living room, without so much as glancing towards Bruce.

‘That is no way to greet your sister,’ Hela replied slyly. ‘I was merely here to check on how things were going.’

‘They’re fine,’ said Thor shortly.

‘I’m sure they are with you,’ Hela said. ‘But I’m not here for you. Where is Loki?’

Thor crossed his arms. ‘Out.’

‘How very vague,’ Hela murmured. ‘My dear brother, there is no need to be so hostile towards me.’

‘Is there not?’ asked Thor. ‘You’re here to try and take Loki away, aren’t you? I can’t think of any other reason for your presence here.’

‘So accusatory,’ said Hela. ‘I am here on a business trip, actually; I do not think there is anything wrong with me visiting my brothers on my day off. Not all my intentions are nefarious, Thor.’

‘You’ve proved that my suspicions have been correct more times than not,’ Thor bit back.

Somewhere downstairs, Bruce heard the door to the building open and close. Moments later, the front door rattled and opened again, footsteps coming down the hallway until an unsuspecting Loki appeared in the doorway. He did a double take when he saw the group that was gathered there, face lighting up in surprise.

‘Hela!’ he exclaimed, going up to his sister and giving her a hug. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I just came to see my favourite little brother,’ Hela said with a grin as she returned the hug. ‘How are you?’

‘I’m alright,’ Loki replied with a smile. ‘How long are you here for?’

‘She was just leaving, actually,’ Thor said.

Hela turned around and glared at him. God, she was good at looking terrifying, Bruce thought to himself. Thor was not even vaguely intimidated, however.

‘Yes, I suppose I have overstayed my welcome,’ Hela drawled. ‘But don’t fret, I’ll be in New York for a couple more days. Be sure to stop by, Loki; I would love to know how the city is treating you. I’ll send you the address I am staying at.’

Loki smiled and nodded, before Thor led her out of the room. Bruce could hear the hushed, harsh words that Thor exchanged with her at the front door.

‘They, uh… don’t really get along, do they?’ he commented to Loki, as he sat down on the couch.

Loki stayed standing next to the door and shrugged. ‘Yeah, they’re not really friends. They barely even want to admit they’re related.’

Bruce grimaced. ‘Does that bother you?’

‘I don’t think I remember a time they got along,’ answered Loki with a laugh. ‘But I don’t care. I get along with both of them, and I guess that’s all that matters.’

‘I guess,’ Bruce replied.

 

* * *

 

It was not until later that evening that Bruce finally found himself alone with Thor. Loki had gone and locked himself in his room for the evening, as he was one to do. The matter of Hela had been avoided during dinner. Thor had been in a terrible mood throughout all of it, and Bruce had thought it best to broach the subject when Loki wasn’t around. Loki must’ve picked up on the atmosphere, too, and did not bring up his sister either.

Now it was just Bruce and Thor; Thor was diligently cleaning and sorting the living room, in a way that Bruce suspected that he was trying to get rid of his nervous energy.

‘Hey,’ Bruce said, walking up to Thor and pressing a hand to his arm. ‘Come on, sit down.’

Thor sighed but did as Bruce suggested, and Bruce sat down next to him.

‘I know you probably don’t really want to talk about it,’ began Bruce. ‘But how come you never mentioned you had a sister…?’

Thor sighed. ‘It didn’t seem important.’

‘How is that not important? You have a whole other member of your family that I had no idea about,’ said Bruce. ‘It wouldn’t matter if it didn’t happen to be the case that you don’t have much family to begin with.’

Bruce felt as if he had crossed a line slightly with those words, but maybe it would be necessary to get his point across.

‘She doesn’t live here,’ Thor responded. ‘She doesn’t have a role in this family.’

‘I feel like Loki might not agree with that,’ Bruce pointed out.

Thor glared at him. ‘Are you trying to wind me up?’

‘No, I’m trying to get you to be honest with me,’ retorted Bruce.

‘I’m not technically being dishonest,’ said Thor.

‘Well, getting off on a technicality isn’t really that comforting,’ countered Bruce. ‘I’m not trying to argue, here, I’m just trying-‘

‘Really? Because the opposite seems more true,’ Thor retorted.

‘Thor,’ Bruce said firmly. ‘Stop it. I’m _not_ trying to argue with you, but you’re making it really difficult with how defensive you’re being.’

Thor sighed again, turning away from Bruce slightly. Bruce reached out, placing a hand on Thor’s shoulder.

‘Why are you so angry with her?’ Bruce asked, trying to sound gentle.

Thor was quiet for a moment, before saying, ‘She’s awful. She’s a horrible, horrible woman, who has no empathy for anybody, which makes her a good lawyer, I suppose, but a cruel person. She just wants to be Loki’s guardian so she can groom him into a younger version of herself.’

‘That’s what you’re scared of?’ Bruce said, trying to coax Thor into saying more.

‘When my parents died,’ Thor continued. ‘There was a really intense lawsuit about where Loki would live and who would take care of him; in New York, where he’d lived since he was little, or London, where she lives. I’ve already told you that’s why I moved here, so that Loki could have some stability in his life. But she was always very resentful of that.’

Thor buried his face in his hands, and Bruce rubbed circles on his back.

‘I knew she would try and get guardianship over him again someday,’ he muttered. ‘And honestly, it wouldn’t take much. She’s a good attorney, and I’m a shitty guardian who works at a bar.’

‘That’s bullshit,’ Bruce said. ‘You do an amazing job.’

Thor laughed hollowly. ‘Even though I try, did you see how happy Loki was to see her? And how he acts towards me? If given the choice, he would choose to go with her in a heartbeat.’

‘You don’t know that,’ said Bruce. ‘You don’t know that at all.’

Thor didn’t reply to this, and leant against Bruce slightly. ‘Are you angry with me? For not telling you about her?’

‘Well, I wasn’t happy,’ admitted Bruce. ‘But I guess I sort of understand now. There aren’t any other secret siblings you’re hiding from me, are there?’

‘No,’ said Thor with a small smile. ‘Just this one. I’m sorry.’

‘It’s okay,’ Bruce replied, taking Thor’s hand and giving it a comforting squeeze. ‘It’s getting late, we should probably go to bed.’

Thor nodded and got up, following Bruce to the bedroom. Once there, he wrapped his arms around Bruce from behind, nuzzling Bruce’s curls.

‘Are you okay?’ Bruce asked quietly.

‘Not really,’ Thor murmured back.

Bruce turned around, embracing Thor properly. ‘You know, it’s tempting to think of worst-case scenarios in situations like this, but statistically there’s a lot more chance that things won’t turn out like that.’

‘And what if they do?’

‘We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,’ said Bruce. ‘But we’ll deal with it.’

Thor managed a smile, and leant forward to kiss Bruce. The kiss was almost desperate, as if Thor was craving the attention and comfort of it more than anything. Still wrapped up together, Thor led the two of them to the bed.


	3. Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki is bothered by something, and Bruce receives a call.

Bruce was sat at the kitchen table the following afternoon, marking some papers. It had been an alright day so far; this morning, he had finished the application to the college that Tony had suggested. Thor was, as was usually the case on Saturdays, at work. Loki had been out since noon, but Bruce heard the front door open and close signalling his return.

After a moment, Loki came through to the kitchen, looking more glum than he usually did. With a dull ‘hello’, he opened the fridge to grab a juice.

‘Hey,’ said Bruce. ‘You okay?’

‘Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?’ Loki answered, almost defensively. Bruce shrugged, and decided to leave it, going back to his marking. Loki was about to step out of the kitchen, but then turned around to face Bruce, as if he was dying to say something but unsure about it at the same time.

‘What’s up?’ asked Bruce.

‘Nothing,’ Loki insisted.

‘Are you sure? ‘Cause you don’t seem sure.’

‘It’s…’ Loki started. ‘It’s stupid.’

‘Is it about your sister?’ Bruce asked.

Loki shook his head. ‘No, it has nothing to do with that at all.’

‘Hm,’ said Bruce. ‘Do you want me to keep guessing or are you going to spit it out?’

Loki huffed, and crossed his arms. ‘It’s embarrassing.’

Bruce shrugged. ‘Maybe you can talk to Thor about it.’

‘I don’t want to talk to Thor about it.’

‘You’re being really cryptic, here,’ said Bruce.

‘Fine,’ snapped Loki, and sat down across from Bruce. ‘Just now, I… I went on… well, I guess it was a date.’

‘Oh? How was it?’ asked Bruce.

Loki grimaced. ‘Really awful.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Bruce said, with a sympathetic smile. ‘But hey, that happens. Dating sucks.’

‘I just…’ Loki sighed. ‘It was my fault it sucked.’

‘Why do you think that?’ Bruce said.

‘I was just… really awkward.’

Bruce chuckled. ‘Now, I know that can’t be true. You talk more than Thor and I combined.’

‘Well, I just was, okay?’ said Loki, crossing his arms and looking defensive again. ‘It sucked.’

‘I’m sure whoever you were with didn’t notice as much as you did,’ Bruce assured Loki.

‘They texted me saying that it was nice but they don’t want to give me the wrong idea by doing it again,’ mumbled Loki.

Bruce grimaced. ‘Ah.’

‘See? Embarrassing. I’m never going to do this again.’

Bruce smiled softly. ‘Hey, you’re fourteen. This is the start of like, a thousand more awkward dates. Besides, I didn’t even really start dating until I was like, twenty, and I’ve turned out alright. You’ll be fine.’

Loki rolled his eyes. ‘Yeah, that’s great and all but right now it sucks.’

‘Yeah, of course it does,’ said Bruce.

Loki frowned and rested his arms on the table. ‘Don’t tell Thor about this, by the way. He’ll ask way too many questions.’

‘Sure,’ Bruce replied. ‘Your secret’s safe with me.’

With a sigh and without another word, Loki got out of his seat. He did look a little better than when he had first wandered into the kitchen. As Loki left the room, Bruce felt empathy towards the boy. It sucked being in high school, and poor Loki was only at the beginning of it all.

 

* * *

 

That evening, when he was lying in bed reading quietly with Thor next to him, Bruce couldn’t fight the urge to not tell Thor. It was nearing midnight, and Thor had just come back from an earlier shift at the bar. It was nice; he wasn’t often done before three in the morning on Saturdays. Putting down his book, Bruce looked over at his boyfriend who was fiddling around on his phone.

‘Hey, if I tell you something about Loki do you promise not to tell him you know?’ he asked.

‘That’s a very high school-y question you’re asking there,’ Thor responded. ‘But sure. Depending on what it is, of course.’

‘Loki went on a date, apparently.’

‘What? He’s fourteen, why is he-‘

‘Hey, let me finish,’ Bruce interrupted. ‘It went badly and he was really bummed out about it.’

‘Ah, that’s a shame,’ Thor said. ‘And he told you about this? Why would he do that?’

‘Thanks for the vote of confidence,’ said Bruce with a wry smile.

Thor smiled slightly. ‘You know what I mean. Loki’s not one to talk to anyone about anything. I don’t understand why he told you but not me, you know, his brother.’

‘Because you ask too many questions, apparently,’ said Bruce. Thor’s expression fell, and Bruce leant forward to give Thor a kiss.

‘Hey, don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll tell you stuff soon enough,’ Bruce assured him. ‘Just… give him time.’

Thor huffed, and Bruce reached over, rubbing Thor’s arm. ‘Did you ever talk to him about how you felt about the piercing thing?’

‘No,’ Thor admitted. ‘I haven’t had the chance yet.’

‘Maybe that’s why he isn’t being really open to you,’ Bruce suggested. ‘The air hasn’t been cleared.’

‘Maybe,’ Thor said.

Bruce picked up his book again when Thor fell silent.

‘How was your day?’ asked Thor, as he put his phone away.

‘Not bad,’ Bruce replied. ‘I-‘

He remembered he had not even mentioned the job to Thor before. Maybe it wasn’t worth talking about until he heard word from the application.

‘I just did marking,’ he said. ‘A little boring. And finally went home and actually got some proper clean clothes. I was made fun of for wearing your shirt yesterday, you know.’

Thor grinned, and rolled over so that he was partially lying on top of Bruce. ‘I think you looked really good in it.’  

‘Of course you did,’ said Bruce with a fond smile.

‘Though I think you’d look even better-‘

‘If you finish that sentence with something along the lines of ‘with my shirt on the bedroom floor’ I’ll kick you out for being so cheesy,’ said Bruce teasingly.

‘Out of my own room?’ said Thor with a grin. ‘You can’t do that.’

He took the book that Bruce was still holding onto, and lay it down on the bedside table, giving him the room to kiss Bruce deeply.

 

* * *

 

The call came a week later, when Bruce was on his lunch break, sitting across from Steve. He didn’t recognise the number, but picked up nonetheless.

‘Hello,’ came the greeting. ‘I’m calling on behalf of the Queensborough Community College and your application with us.’

‘Oh,’ said Bruce stupidly. ‘Neat.’

‘We were impressed with the application,’ said the woman on the other line. ‘And would love to interview you to the position.’

‘Of course!’ Bruce answered immediately. ‘When would suite you guys best?’

After a date and time was agreed upon, Bruce hung up, smiling widely.

‘What was that about?’ asked Steve, looking at him curiously.

‘I got a job interview for this thing,’ said Bruce vaguely.

Steve raised his eyebrows. ‘You’re leaving us?’

‘It’s part-time,’ Bruce replied. ‘Besides, I don’t think Tony would let me leave this school even if I wanted to.’

‘Not with how the science department is going, at any rate,’ Steve agreed. ‘How’s the workload?’

‘I’ve only had a couple of late nights, to be honest,’ answered Bruce. ‘I mean, I’ll probably be a little more stressed out once exams begin properly again. But hey, hopefully I can sneak in some assignments that’ll give kids something fun to do instead of just pop quizzes. Makes it fun for me too.’

‘Yeah, that’s why I teach art,’ said Steve. ‘I got to grade about ten Claymation videos last week and I’ve never had more fun.’

‘I’ll let the kids blow up something,’ Bruce mused. ‘The bigger the explosion, the higher the grade.’

‘Yeah, that won’t backfire immediately,’ said Steve with a laugh.

Bruce chuckled, and looked back at his phone, seeing that Thor had texted him. He should probably tell him about the job interview, he reckoned. But then again, nothing was set in stone yet- it was best to maybe not give Thor something else to think about. Especially with all the other things going on at the moment. No, Bruce decided. He’d keep it quiet a little longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slightly shorter chapter this week- but an important one, nonetheless.


	4. Celebrations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony has something to ask Bruce.

‘Tony, you said we were going to go and get a coffee,’ groaned Bruce as Tony led him away from the coffee place they were initially headed to, and towards one of the other bars on the street.

‘Oh no, this occasion calls for a celebration, and a latte is anything but a celebration,’ Tony insisted, guiding them inside and grabbing a table.

‘A celebration?’ repeated Bruce. ‘For what?’

Tony waved away the question and stood up, walking to the bar. ‘Hold on, let me get drinks; I need to build up the suspense.’

‘We have work tomorrow,’ Bruce called after him, in the futile hope that Tony would think of that when ordering. A moment later he was back, shoving a glass into Bruce’s hand.

‘Okay,’ he said, sitting across from Bruce. ‘So. Bruce. Mr. Banner. Would you make me the happiest man on earth-‘

‘I’m honoured, Tony,’ said Bruce with a teasing grin. ‘But you’re engaged, I’ve got a boyfriend, I just don’t think it’ll work-‘

‘Shut up,’ Tony said, good-naturedly. ‘And let me finish. Would you make me the happiest man on earth and be one of my groomsmen?’

‘Groomsmen- Tony, the wedding is in _two weeks,_ how are you asking me so close to it?’ exclaimed Bruce.

‘Look, I’ve been a bit late with all of it,’ admitted Tony. ‘But you won’t have to do anything! You just come along on the bachelor’s party, and stand around at the front of the wedding, and make sure that nobody gets too wasted and makes a stupid mistake just because they think that they’ll be alone forever.’

‘Okay,’ said Bruce, thinking about it. ‘Okay, maybe I can do this.’

‘It’ll be fun!’ Tony said. ‘See why I wanted to celebrate now?’

Bruce chuckled. ‘Sure, sure. Oh- the college got back to me, by the way. I have an interview next week.

‘Yes! Fantastic,’ said Tony with a grin. ‘I’m sure you’ll get it, with your credentials and _amazing_ references.’

‘Sure, sure,’ said Bruce with a chuckle. ‘We’ll see.’

Bruce phone vibrated, and he glanced at it, seeing it was from Thor.

_-Are you staying over tonight?_

Bruce quickly sent a reply.

_-I’m out with Tony, I don’t know until what time, maybe it’s easier if I just stayed at mine._

Moments later, another text came.

_-That’s okay, I’ll stay up :)_

Bruce smiled softly. He really didn’t deserve Thor.

‘Is that Thor?’ asked Tony, taking a sip from his drink.

‘It is,’ said Bruce.

‘How’s that going?’

‘Really good, actually,’ said Bruce with a smile. ‘I’m… surprised.’

‘Yeah, how long has been? Eight months?’ asked Tony. ‘That’s longer than your runs usually go for.’

‘Cheers, Tony,’ Bruce answered wryly.

‘It’s true though, isn’t it?’ said Tony. ‘What’s changed?’

‘I don’t known,’ admitted Bruce. ‘I mean, I tried breaking up with him and he managed to talk me out of it- okay no, that sounds bad- I panicked and thought it would be better to break up and he talked some sense into me. So, you know, I actually tried to keep up my great run of self-sabotaging relationships but this was a little more difficult.’

Tony raised his eyebrows. ‘Well, that’s… I guess that’s good?’

‘It is,’ insisted Bruce. ‘I’m really, really happy that he didn’t let me just leave after that conversation. It was… eye-opening, kind of, with how I can act in those moments.’

‘Good, I’m glad,’ Tony said. ‘I’m glad that someone else told you and you actually listened, ‘cause I’ve only mentioned it a million times.’

‘Well, it’s different when it’s coming from the actual person you’re in a relationship with,’ said Bruce with a laugh.

Tony grinned. ‘So now you two are what, basically living together at this point?’ 

‘Oh no, not at all,’ said Bruce. ‘I mean, I guess I just stay over there all the time because it’s closer to school. And obviously because it’s nicer than being alone in my crappy apartment.’

‘So… you’re basically living together,’ Tony said again.

Bruce thought about it for a moment. ‘…Yeah, but not officially. Just… out of convenience.’

‘Wow, are you always this romantic?’ Tony responded with a laugh. ‘’Out of convenience.’ Sure.’

‘You know what I mean,’ said Bruce, nudging his friend. ‘It’s not _really_ living together.’

Tony gave him a look. ‘Sorry, did I freak you out? ‘Cause I thought we were finally getting over your entire commitment issues thing-‘

‘I do _not_ have commitment issues.’

‘What do you call breaking off every relationship at the three month mark?’ said Tony pointedly. ‘Commitment issues.’

‘You know what, enough about me, let’s talk about how long it took you to get together with Pepper,’ Bruce countered. ‘I’m still surprised you proposed.’

‘I’m not saying I’m any better!’

‘Do I get to make a speech at your wedding? Because I’m starting to get some ideas,’ said Bruce with a knowing grin.

‘No,’ Tony said immediately. ‘I’m vetoing your right to speech. The only people who get to speech are Pepper’s friends and family and _maybe_ Rogers just because I know he doesn’t have it in him to roast me.’

‘I’ll find a way.’

‘Just wait until your wedding,’ said Tony, pointing his almost-empty glass at Bruce. ‘I’ll get you back for anything you try to pull in two weeks’ time. Or does talking about marriage freak you out, too?’

‘I wasn’t freaking out!’ Bruce said indignantly.

Tony laughed, draining his glass. ‘Do you think you would?’

‘Would I what?’ asked Bruce.

‘Marry Thor.’

‘If he’s willing to stick it out that long,’ said Bruce wryly. ‘That alone would be a miracle.’

‘I’m not asking if _he_ would,’ said Tony. ‘I’m asking if _you_ would.’

‘Isn’t it kind of early to be talking about things like that?’ asked Bruce.

‘It’s a hypothetical! Just answer the damn question, Banner,’ Tony answered, exasperated.

Bruce thought about it for a moment, wondering if Tony deserved an honest answer.

‘Yes,’ said Bruce. ‘I would like to marry Thor. Some day.’

‘See? That wasn’t so hard,’ said Tony with a grin. ‘Look at you, you’re growing.’

Bruce laughed at that, before getting up to buy them another round of drinks.

 

* * *

 

Bruce found himself out of Thor’s door a lot later than he expected. It was a bit ridiculous to assume that Thor was still up; he’d try knocking, Bruce decided, and otherwise he would go back to his own apartment. He’d neglected that place, after all. A moment after knocking, however, a very sleepy Thor opened the door and smiled at him.

‘I was wondering when you’d come back,’ he said.

‘Did I wake you?’ asked Bruce.

Thor shook his head. ‘Not at all. Besides, I don’t work until noon, anyway.’

He took Bruce’s hand and led him to his bedroom, walking quietly to avoid waking up Loki. Thor lay down on the bed, waiting for Bruce to change and join him.

‘You really shouldn’t have stayed up,’ said Bruce. ‘Look how sleepy you look.

‘It’s fine. How was your night?’ he asked, when Bruce climbed in next to him.

‘Not bad,’ Bruce replied. ‘Tony asked me to be one of his groomsmen, which is exciting.’

‘Really? He’s cutting it close.’

‘That’s what I told him,’ Bruce said with a wry smile. ‘Did you book time off for the wedding?’

Thor nodded. ‘Yeah, I’m all ready for you to show me off to all your friends.’

Bruce chuckled. ‘You’re my trophy boyfriend.’

‘No, you’re my trophy boyfriend. We can’t both be trophy boyfriends.’

‘You’re far more of a trophy than I am,’ said Bruce.

Thor gave Bruce a gentle nudge. ‘Hey, you’re not allowed to make self-deprecating comments like that. You’re _my_ trophy husband, and that’s final. Or well, boyfriend.’

Bruce smiled slightly. ‘Tony and I were talking about marriage in general as well, you know.’

‘Yeah?’ said Thor, propping himself up on his elbows. ‘What about it?’

‘I never expected him to get married, to be honest,’ said Bruce. ‘He said he thought the same about me.’

‘Really?’ Thor said. Bruce responded with a little ‘hm’, sound, and fell silent. Thor lay back down and didn’t say anything for a while, and Bruce momentarily thought he’d fallen asleep.

‘Would you ever want to get married?’ Thor then asked, quietly.

Bruce thought about it for a moment, unsure if he should be honest with Thor or not. ‘…I don’t know. I can’t see myself getting married. Not in the near future, anyway.’

Technically, that wasn’t a lie. Partially built on the idea that he could not truly see Thor ever wanting to marry _him,_ but it was no less the truth, even if it was not what he had told Tony earlier that evening.

‘Sorry,’ he added quietly.

‘Why would you apologise for that?’ asked Thor, and Bruce could hear the smile in his voice. ‘I wasn’t proposing to you. I was just curious; I’m happy with the way things are right now.’

Bruce smiled to himself, and cuddled up to Thor. ‘Me, too.’

Thor kissed him on his forehead, and Bruce reached to run his hand through Thor’s hair.

‘Your hair’s getting long,’ he told him.

‘It’s nowhere near as long as I used to have it,’ Thor said. ‘I’m growing it out again.’

‘Hm,’ said Bruce sleepily, closing his eyes. ‘It suites you.’

He could feel himself drifting off, in the comfort of Thor’s embrace.


	5. Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talking's difficult.

The very short night of sleep did Bruce absolutely no good when he woke up the next morning. His head hurt, and he was not sure if it was from the tiredness or from the drinks from the previous night. What was certainly not helping, was the shouting coming from the hallway. It was slightly muffled, but he could hear Loki’s voice coming through the door.

‘I told you, I don’t have time!’ Loki was saying in a raised voice. ‘I’m leaving _right now_ , you’re just making me more late!’

‘You knew this advance,’ Thor’s voice came, sounding a lot more levelled- but also tired.

‘I overslept, there’s nothing I can do about that!’

‘You can try not oversleeping,’ Thor responded.

‘Sure, if I could turn back time, I would,’ Loki retorted. ‘But then I’d also turn it back far enough that I didn’t make the stupid choice to stay here in this stupid apartment in this stupid city!’

That was _not_ going to go down well. The front door opened and slammed shut; Loki had left. Bruce rolled out of bed, walking out of the bedroom. He found Thor in the living room, standing and staring out of the window with crossed arms.

‘Hey,’ said Bruce softly, placing a hand on Thor’s shoulder. ‘I heard what Loki said. Are you alright?’

Thor shrugged, before saying shortly, ‘Yeah, I’m fine.’

Of course, it wasn’t fine. Bruce wrapped his arms around Thor’s waist.

‘Loki doesn’t know what he’s talking about,’ he told Thor.

Thor shook his head. ‘He’s not an idiot. He knows exactly what he’s talking about.’

‘Thor-‘

Thor shook is head, pulling away from Bruce. ‘It’s fine. Just leave it. I don’t want to make you late for work.’

Bruce grimaced as Thor turned around and headed towards the kitchen. He wasn’t used to him being so… frustrated all the time, so stubbornly quiet about his own emotions. Bruce thought that _he_ was bad at this, but evidently Thor was not handling the stress of the situation well. He needed to talk to him properly, Bruce thought to himself. Checking the time, however, he realised that he was actually running late for work; it would have to wait.

 

* * *

 

For the first time in weeks, Bruce found himself heading out of work a little before five. In addition to that, his marking was done, his lessons were prepared, and he the entire evening off. Unfortunately, Thor was working late again; he’d given Bruce the keys to the apartment.

Bruce expected it to be empty once he got in, assuming that Loki was at his therapy appointment like he usually was on Thursday afternoon. However, once he stepped into the living room, he saw that Loki was also there, scrolling on his laptop, barely even looking up when Bruce came it.

‘Hey,’ said Bruce. ‘I didn’t expect to see you here.’

‘I’d say the same thing about you, but I’m pretty sure you’ve been here every day for like, three months,’ Loki responded dryly.

Bruce sat down on the couch. ‘Did your appointment get cancelled?’

Loki merely shrugged in response. Ah; he hadn’t gone. Bruce grimaced, leaning back. He knew that if Thor found out it would only make him more annoyed with his little brother.

‘You know,’ said Bruce slowly. ‘If you don’t get along with your therapist, you can always request a new one.’

Loki didn’t say anything, eyes fixed on the laptop screen.

‘Maybe that’ll motivate you to go more often,’ tried Bruce. ‘I know it sucks. But it can be really helpful.’

‘What do _you_ know of it?’ Loki snapped, still not looking up at Bruce.

Bruce smiled slightly. ‘Quite a bit, actually.’

Loki didn’t respond to this, but he did finally look up at Bruce.

‘I know it’s none of my business,’ Bruce continued. ‘But I know what it’s like to not want or think you don’t need to pursue something like this.’

Loki crossed his arms. ‘I just… hate talking to people.’

‘Yeah,’ Bruce said. ‘So did I. It really sucks to be vulnerable like that. But it helps to think that a therapist is actually trained to, you know, help you make your head a little clearer. It takes some strain off trying to make sense of everything yourself. Does that make sense?’

Loki nodded slowly, but then said, ‘Did Thor put you up to this?’

Bruce chuckled. ‘No, of course not. He wouldn’t put me up to anything like this. This is just me being honest.’

‘Right,’ said Loki, sounding a little unsure. He closed his laptop, stowing it away next to him. ‘I guess it’s just… I don’t know, it’s just… weird.’

‘What, me talking about it or therapy?’

‘Therapy,’ muttered Loki. ‘It’s… invasive. And they keep wanting to like, find the root of every problem but they keep pinpointing the wrong things.’

‘That’s why it’s important to be honest with them,’ said Bruce. ‘That way they can find the right solutions for you.’

Loki looked down at the ground. ‘I guess. It just sucks that I’m the only one I know that has to do this.’

‘You’re really not, Loki,’ said Bruce with a small smile. ‘People just don’t talk about it a lot. Most people will have to find help for their mental health issues at some point in their life, you know. For you it just happens to be now.’

Loki fidgeted slightly, before looking back at Bruce. ‘When did you have to go?’

‘At various points in my life,’ said Bruce. ‘I began properly looking for help for my problems in my early twenties.’

‘So… it didn’t go away for you?’

Bruce’s smile faltered slightly. No, it never truly went away. But that was hardly something he could tell a fourteen-year-old.

‘It got easier,’ said Bruce. ‘I learned to live with the stuff going on in my mind.’

Loki fell quiet again.

‘But everybody’s different,’ Bruce continued. ‘Your situation is different than mine was, and everybody responds differently to different kind of therapies.’

‘What was your situation, then?’ asked Loki.

‘I… uh,’ Bruce started, wondering how he should put it. ‘I… had a shitty dad.’

‘Oh.’

After another moment of silence, Bruce got up from the couch, saying, ‘I’ll uh, go and make some dinner. I hope that was… marginally helpful.’

‘It was,’ said Loki, in such a quiet voice that Bruce wasn’t even sure if he had heard it correctly.

 

* * *

 

Bruce should’ve really told Thor. Especially now, just after the interview, he felt like an idiot for not telling his boyfriend, the person that he spent more time with than anyone on earth, what he was doing. Instead, he had told him that he would be home later, that he was still at school. In his defence, however, there was never a right time to bring it up. Something kept getting in the way, so maybe it was fate’s way of telling Bruce that he shouldn’t say anything until he was actually certain of the job.

Instead, it was Tony who he texted about the interview, saying it had gone better than expected but they would have to wait and see if it actually meant anything. The walk back to Thor’s apartment wasn’t far from the college either, which bode well for if he did get the job. Though he really shouldn’t think about it that way, what if he jinxed it?

Soon enough, Bruce found himself back in front of Thor’s door, knocking and waiting a moment before Thor opened up.

‘Hey, how’re you?’ asked Thor as he let Bruce in and gave him a quick kiss.

‘Not bad,’ said Bruce with a small smile. He could not quite push away the feeling of guilt; he should just tell Thor, he decided. This really wasn’t something to make such a big deal out of.

‘Loki’s having dinner with Hela, apparently,’ said Thor.

Bruce grimaced. Nevermind; the timing still wasn’t right.

‘So, it’s just the two of us, then?’ asked Bruce.

‘I guess.’

‘Don’t you sound enthusiastic,’ said Bruce with a wry smile as he followed Thor into the kitchen.

Thor sighed. ‘Sorry, I’m sure you can understand why I’m not enthusiastic.’

‘I know, but still,’ said Bruce as he gave Thor a small nudge. ‘We can make something fun out of it. We could have a candlelit dinner, have a walk, take a bath…’

Thor finally smiled at Bruce. ‘You’re right. That sounds lovely; sorry, I shouldn’t be acting like such a grump all the time.’

‘’S okay,’ said Bruce, as he wrapped his arms around Thor’s waist. ‘You make up for it.’

Thor placed a kiss on Bruce’s forehead. ‘Have I mentioned recently how much I love you?’

‘I hear it every now and then,’ said Bruce with a teasing grin.

‘Well, I do. I love you very much,’ Thor said with a smile, before leaning forward and kissing Bruce.

When he pulled away, Bruce responded, ‘I love you, too.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is, for me, the most important chapter of this instalment of BBSG and kind of what it revolves around. I hope yous enjoy!


	6. Wallowing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hela stops by.

The evening had been going so well until the front door opened and not one, but two voices carried through the hallway. Thor had, until this moment, been comfortably lying with his head on Bruce’s lap, but bolted back upright when he recognised his sister’s voice. Bruce groaned internally; Thor had finally relaxed for the first time in a long time, and that was now threatening end.

Loki walked in and stood in the doorway, looking at Thor. ‘Hela wants to talk to you.’

Thor narrowed his eyes. ‘Why?’

‘Why don’t you ask her?’ responded Loki. ‘Don’t shoot the messenger.’

With those words, he shrugged and continued on down the hallway to his room. Thor stood up, but before he could make his way to the front door, Hela had already let herself in and walked into the living room. Bruce noticed that Thor immediately felt defensive. He didn’t blame him.

‘I wish to speak to you,’ said Hela, and glanced over at Bruce. ‘In private.’

‘I’d rather Bruce stayed, actually,’ said Thor.

Hela pursed her lips. ‘Very well.’

She sauntered in, standing commandingly in the middle of the room across from Thor. ‘You must have noticed that Loki is not doing well.’

‘Of course I’ve noticed,’ Thor answered. ‘But he’s a teenager, he’s just… going through things.’

‘Are you sure that is what it is?’ Hela asked pointedly.

Thor sighed, casting his eyes down. ‘I know what you’re implying, but I am giving Loki everything he needs-‘

‘You work until the early hours of the morning several times a week,’ Hela interjected. ‘You have no idea what he is up to in those hours. You _cannot_ provide a stable living situation. Loki goes off and does god knows what, does things that you do not agree with yet you cannot seem to control him.’

‘Loki is not there to be controlled!’ Thor retorted. ‘He needs his freedom, he needs to test out his boundaries, of course he’s going to get his piercings and sneak out at night, he’d do that if he were with you, too!’

‘He would not, for I would provide a better environment,’ spat Hela. ‘You are a _terrible_ brother.’

Thor opened his mouth, but did not say anything. Bruce stood up- Hela’s eyes immediately flickered towards him and he felt vaguely terrified- and spoke.

‘He’s a great brother, actually,’ said Bruce. ‘At least he’s here, making sure that Loki gets to grow up around his friends and the neighbourhood he’s been living in for years. You never made those sacrifices for him.’

‘You do not have the faintest idea of what you are talking about,’ Hela said, glaring at him. ‘I suggest you do not talk about matters you have no knowledge of.’

‘I’ve been here, though. I’ve watched all the things that Thor has done for Loki,’ Bruce retorted. ‘I think _you_ don’t know what you’re talking about, actually.’

He was surprised at the vigour in his voice; Thor seemed taken aback, too.

‘You are not a member of this family,’ spat Hela. ‘You have not lived with these people, you have not experienced the better part of a lifetime with these brothers. You know _nothing._ As for you-‘ She pointed at Thor. ‘Do not think this is the last you will here of this matter.’

With those words hanging in the air, she swept out of the room. Thor did not follow her, but remained in the living room, standing tensely until he heard the front door slam shut. Bruce wrapped an arm around Thor, leading him back to the couch. Thor sighed, leaning into Bruce’s touch.

‘I told you she had ulterior motives,’ Thor muttered.

Bruce rubbed his back. ‘I never said I doubted you.’

 

* * *

 

Bruce knocked on Tony’s office door, before letting himself in. Tony looked up from whatever he was looking at on his computer, smiling when his friend entered the room.

‘What’s up?’ asked Tony, as Bruce hovered in the doorway.

‘I, uh, got the job,’ said Bruce with a small smile. ‘Just got the call.’

‘Seriously?’ said Tony, now grinning. ‘Congratulations! I’d never have doubted that you’d get it of course, but the confirmation of it is still exciting.’

‘Sure,’ said Bruce. ‘It means I have to start working part-time here, though.’

‘Yeah, we’ll figure out that boring stuff and logistics later,’ said Tony. ‘Just celebrate, for now.’

‘You’re right,’ responded Bruce. ‘I need to tell Thor about this.’

‘Good plan,’ said Tony. ‘Also, now you can introduce yourself as a college teacher to new people at the wedding this weekend! That’s only slightly more exciting than a middle school teacher.’

‘Hey, I can still introduce myself as a middle school teacher,’ said Bruce with a laugh. ‘But I’m excited.’

‘For the wedding, or for the job?’

Bruce grinned at Tony. ‘Both, obviously. Listen, I should get home and break the news there. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

‘See ya,’ Tony called after him as he left the office. ‘Have fun.’

 

* * *

 

Thor looked utterly miserable when Bruce arrived back at the apartment. The door was open, and Bruce let himself in to find the blonde man lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling, looking rather defeated.

‘Hey,’ Bruce said softly as he came into the living room. ‘What’s wrong?’

When Thor looked up and saw Bruce, he sat up, quickly. ‘Nothing.’

Bruce sighed, sitting next to Thor. ‘Doesn’t seem like it to me.’

‘I’m just… wallowing,’ Thor said with a sad little smile. ‘Don’t mind me.’

‘That’s not really like you,’ Bruce said, taking Thor’s hand.

‘I suppose not,’ answered Thor. ‘I don’t think I’m feeling quite myself today.’

‘Is it the situation with your sister?’ asked Bruce. ‘Is that’s what’s getting you down?’

Thor sighed, and shrugged, before rubbing his face with his hands, visibly emotional. ‘I… think she might be right. About Loki.’

Bruce was taken back by the answer. ‘What about him?’

‘That he would be better off with her,’ Thor said, averting Bruce’s gaze. ‘Loki obviously thinks so as well. Maybe I’m the one standing in between them.’

‘Thor, that’s not-‘

‘Don’t tell me it isn’t true,’ Thor said, and Bruce frowned. ‘You’ve heard the way he speaks to me. He’s told me he- that he wished he wasn’t here with me.’

Thor’s voice grew thick as he spoke, and he turned his face away from Bruce. Bruce reached out, turning Thor back to face him, to see that his eyes were brimming with tears. He had never, ever seen Thor cry before, and felt at a loss for words.

Instead, Thor spoke again, his voice rough with emotion. ‘I- I feel as if I’ve failed my parents.’

‘Thor, no,’ Bruce said, taking Thor’s face in his hands, feeling his own heart break ever so slightly when he saw Thor’s expression. ‘You do the best you can do. I’m not saying this because I love you, I’m saying this because I’ve seen so many parents do so many different things.’

‘It’s not good enough, though,’ Thor answered. ‘I’ve failed Loki, I’ve failed Hela, I’ve failed my entire family.’

Bruce wrapped his arms around Thor, letting him bury his face in the crook of his shoulder. Oh god, he really didn’t know how to handle this.

‘You have done the best you can do,’ Bruce repeated. ‘Your situation has been against you from the get-go, and that’s outside your control. You haven’t failed anyone.’

Thor let out a shuddering breath. ‘I just feel so… exhausted. I just want to- to leave for a couple of weeks and then come back when everything’s better.’

‘It’s fair that you’re tired,’ murmured Bruce. ‘You’ve been dealing with a lot lately, that’s going to have some strain on you.’

They stayed that for a bit, Bruce stroking Thor’s hair, holding him close. Bruce felt rather useless, not knowing what to do or say to make Thor feel better.

‘I’m sorry,’ Thor muttered eventually.

‘Don’t apologise,’ said Bruce instantly. ‘Don’t even try to. You’re allowed to be upset about this; I’d be more worried if you weren’t.’

Thor sat up again, wiping at his eyes. ‘I’ve been trying to not let it get to me.’

‘You can only fight it so much,’ said Bruce, reaching over and taking Thor’s hands. ‘You can’t try and just ignore your own emotions forever. It’ll all just come… pouring out, eventually.’

Thor took his hands away from Bruce’s, crossing them over his chest and averting Bruce’s gaze. God, it really was breaking Bruce’s heart to see him like this.

‘I’d prefer it- and it would probably help you, too- if you talked to me about it instead of trying to ignore it,’ Bruce said eventually. ‘I know I can only do so much, but…’

‘I know,’ said Thor quietly. ‘I know. I’ll try harder. Practise what I preach, and all that.’

Bruce smiled slightly, and Thor sighed deeply, placing his hands on Bruce’s again.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Thor again.

Bruce shook his head. ‘It’s okay, really. I get it- I know I don’t have experience in this situation exactly, but I do get how you’re feeling.’

Thor finally smiled faintly. ‘Thank you, Bruce.’

Bruce smiled back, cupping Thor’s face in his hands. ‘Do you want to put on a shitty movie and get some takeout?’

‘I thought you’d never ask.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's an early update, and also an announcement that I'm taking a little hiatus from this fic as I spend the next week writing for ThorBruce week! I'll be back with Tony's wedding chapter at the end of next week.


	7. Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for a wedding.

Bruce was standing in the mirror, fiddling with the buttons of his dress-shirt when Thor came around behind him and wrapped his arms around him.

‘You look beautiful,’ he murmured in Bruce’s ear, and Bruce’s eyes cast to the ground as he smiled, and he turned around so that he could wrap his arms around Thor.

‘Have you seen yourself?’ he said, before standing on his toes to give Thor a quick kiss.

Thor grinned down at Bruce. ‘I feel like it’s unfair to Pepper and Tony that you’ll be standing up there and stealing the show.’

Bruce snorted with laughter. ‘Don’t talk like that.’

‘I mean it!’ Thor insisted. ‘Everyone will think, oh who’s that gorgeous guy up there? And I’ll be the lucky bastard who gets to say, that’s my boyfriend.’

‘Now I just feel like you’re making fun of me.’

‘I’m not!’ exclaimed Thor. ‘I’m really not, Bruce. Christ, if only you saw yourself like I do.’

‘Come on, we’re going to be late,’ said Bruce, taking Thor’s hand.

‘Do you believe me, though?’ asked Thor as they headed out of the bedroom. Loki was already standing at the front door, focussed on his phone.

‘We’ve got a wedding to get to, sweetheart,’ said Bruce in lieu of a response.

‘You don’t believe me.’

‘Come on,’ Bruce said, opening the front door. ‘Let’s go.’

Thor sighed and walked on out, followed by Loki who gave them both a weird look. ‘Are you guys arguing?’

‘No,’ Bruce replied, just as Thor said, ‘Yes.’

‘Well, _I’m_ not arguing,’ Bruce added, giving Thor a pointed look, and Thor chuckled and wrapped an arm around him. Loki had stopped paying attention to them and already made his way out of the door- Thor and Bruce followed after him.

 

* * *

 

The wedding service was beautiful; simple but elegant, probably per Pepper’s instructions. They’d both cried as they said their vows, causing most of the people (including Thor, to Loki’s embarrassment) to cry as well. Bruce, standing with the other groomsmen at the front, smiled softly as he watched Thor wipe away a couple of stray tears.

He caught Bruce’s eye and smiled broadly, and Bruce couldn’t help but feel a little overcome with love for Thor. He wouldn’t admit it to Thor- not yet- but he wondered what a wedding would be like between the two of them. It wouldn’t be this extravagant if it were up to Bruce, and nowhere near as many people as this one. But it would be just as beautiful, just as filled with love and friendship as this day was turning out to be.

At the reception afterwards, Thor was quick to find Bruce, giving him a kiss when he did.

‘You were fantastic,’ said Thor with a smile, and Bruce snorted with laughter.

‘I didn’t actually do anything, you know?’ he answered. ‘I just stood there for a bit.’

‘I don’t care, you were still amazing,’ insisted Thor.

‘Okay, you weirdo,’ said Bruce fondly. ‘We should go congratulate the happy couple.’

A small queue had already formed around Pepper and Tony, and Bruce and Thor were quick to tag along to the end of it. Bruce’s hand was in Thor’s, and Thor leant in to give him a kiss as they waited. Bruce couldn’t bring himself to act embarrassed over the public display of affection, instead basking in how Thor was acting today.

‘Congratulations, you guys made it through’ said Bruce with a smile once they’d reached Pepper and Tony at the front of the queue.

‘You both look beautiful,’ Thor added.

‘Thank you guys,’ said Tony, looking giddy with excitement and joy. ‘I’m glad you could make it, Thor.’

‘As am I,’ said Thor. ‘Loki’s around here somewhere too; I told him to go up and congratulate you, but we’ll see if he actually does.’

Pepper laughed at that. ‘Well, it’s the thought that counts.’

‘Anyway, we’ll leave you to your socialising,’ Bruce said.

‘We’ll catch up with you two later,’ answered Tony, and Bruce nodded.

‘Oh, Tony told me about your new job as well, Bruce; congratulations,’ said Pepper with a smile.

Bruce’s stomach dropped, and he didn’t look over to see Thor’s reaction. Instead, he laughed nervously, answering, ‘Thanks, Pepper,’ before they moved on, letting the people behind them congratulate the couple. Bruce felt Thor’s hand on the small of his back as they walked on.

‘What was she on about?’ Thor asked. ‘A new job?’

‘It’s nothing,’ said Bruce quickly.

‘A new job isn’t nothing,’ said Thor. He’d led them a little farther away from the main crowd where the party was happening, and turned to Bruce.

‘It’s not… look, I’ll tell you about it later,’ said Bruce in a low voice.

‘Why didn’t you tell me about it before?’ asked Thor, frowning and Bruce. ‘Pepper and Tony know; why don’t I know?’

‘Thor,’ Bruce responded, placing a hand on Thor’s arm. ‘I’ll explain later, okay?’

His heart was going about a thousand miles an hour; this wasn’t fair, and he knew it. Thor had every right to be upset.

Thor didn’t seem to be listening to Bruce, either. ‘Weren’t you the one that was preaching about not having secrets from each other when Hela showed up?’

‘Not important ones,’ Bruce muttered.

‘And this isn’t important?’ asked Thor. ‘You have a new job and you never told me that you were even looking for one?’

‘Thor, I don’t want to argue with you here,’ Bruce said firmly. Thor sighed, looking as if he had something else to say, before shaking his head. He turned around, and began heading back into the crowd they had just come from.

Bruce watched him go and felt the panic rise in his chest. He knew he should have said something; it wouldn’t have taken more than a minute to even mention the matter, and instead he had left it to simmer until it had blown up in his face. Typical, he thought, staying where he was, unable to make himself go and socialise with the rest of the people.

Bruce couldn’t see Thor anymore- not that he would be willing to talk to him anyway- and so instead he headed to the exit of the building. It was stupid, he realised, to walk out without saying anything, without saying goodbye to his friends, but he simply couldn’t face anyone right now.

‘Bruce?’

Despite his state, Bruce turned around to see that he’d just passed Steve while heading to the door.

‘Are you leaving?’ asked Steve, looking a little surprised.

‘No, no,’ said Bruce with a small smile, well aware that he probably did not sound convincing. ‘I’m just heading out for some fresh air.’

‘Oh,’ Steve said. ‘Well, I’ll see you inside, in that case.’

Bruce nodded in response, before turning back and heading to the front door. Once he was outside and felt the cool night air in his face, he breathed in several times, attempting to clear the panic that he was feeling to no avail. He looked over his shoulder, back at the door that led to the party that would surely go on for a while longer.

No, he couldn’t bring himself to go back. Besides, he’d most likely mess things up even more. Instead, Bruce turned around and headed out into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys I finally updated! Thanks for bearing with me- my new course at uni is way more intense than my previous one so I have a lot less free time, but I'm gonna make an effort to finish this!


	8. Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to talk.

Bruce had not been to his own apartment in a long while. Well, he’d popped back in every now and then to pick up clothes or something, but he’d not spent the night there in a couple of months. It felt empty and unfamiliar- Bruce couldn’t stand the loneliness of it, but he had no choice. He couldn’t go back to Thor’s apartment, after all.

His mind was racing and he felt as if he couldn’t quite catch his breath no matter what he did as he stumbled into the dark living room that was a little dusty with misuse. Falling onto the sofa, Bruce could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket, but when he saw who it was he chucked it across the room.

He’d call Thor back once- if- he calmed down, he reasoned, lying back and covering his face with his hands, willing for his racing thoughts and breath and everything to calm down. But he couldn’t manage to still the one thought that he’d fucked it, he’d pushed too far and he’d fucked it.

Bruce cursed to himself, his voice ringing through the quiet apartment. He was too much- even when he tried to be less and help others and stop being so damn selfish he still managed to fuck it up. Things were already such a mess for Thor, and Bruce just had to go and add his own stupidity into the mix.

It had been too good to be true, he supposed. The past few months had been the best of his entire life- there was no way it could last forever.

 

* * *

 

Bruce hadn’t even realised that he had fallen asleep. His panic must’ve exhausted him, he figured, as he opened his eyes again once he heard knocking from the door.

In a half-awake state he dragged himself up from the couch, and stumbled to the door.

Upon opening it, Bruce was a little taken aback when Thor was standing on the other side, still dressed in his clothes from the wedding.

‘Oh, thank god,’ breathed Thor. ‘There you are.’

‘What- what’re you doing here?’ asked Bruce.

‘Looking for you,’ said Thor. ‘Why didn’t you answer your phone?’

‘I… was going to call you back,’ Bruce replied. ‘Sorry.’

‘What happened?’ asked Thor, stepping into Bruce’s hallway. ‘You look- well, you don’t look great, darling.’

Bruce closed the door, unable to find the right words to answer. Thor seemed to be able to sense this, taking Bruce’s hand and leading him back to the living room and pulling him onto the couch.

‘I… may have overreacted a little bit,’ said Bruce eventually. ‘I was… well, I kind of freaked out when you found out about the job. I just couldn’t be around anyone, and I thought you were angry with me. Are you angry with me…?’

Thor sighed. ‘I wasn’t angry, I was… well, annoyed, I suppose, about the hypocrisy of the situation. But then you disappeared and I was just really worried.’

‘I’m sorry,’ muttered Bruce, casting his eyes down. ‘I should’ve said I was leaving, that was stupid of me. I just kind of… spiralled.’

‘If you’d just talk to me-‘

‘I know, I know, but it’s not that easy,’ interjected Bruce.

‘Of course it isn’t easy, we wouldn’t be in this situation if it was,’ said Thor firmly. ‘What if you just tried taking the advice you’ve been giving me, you know? Not assuming the worst case scenario, and talking to me, and not having big secrets and things.’

‘I _have_ been trying,’ Bruce responded. ‘But it’s difficult with- well, with all that you’re going through. I don’t want to add more to that burden. I wanted to tell you about that job, but things just kept… getting in the way. I didn’t exactly feel like telling you about my job when you were in tears the Hela situation.’

Bruce realised that that hadn’t been the right thing to say when Thor looked away guiltily.

‘I didn’t mean to create a situation like that,’ said Thor quietly after moment. ‘That wasn’t my intention at all.’

‘I know,’ Bruce replied quickly. ‘I know. I didn’t want to… accuse you, that’s just- well, that’s why I didn’t tell you.’

Thor sighed again, giving Bruce’s hand a squeeze. ‘I’m still sorry.’

‘So am I,’ Bruce said, looking down at their hands.

‘We’ve made a mess of things, haven’t we?’ said Thor with a small smile.

‘Well, everything was pretty messy in the first place,’ Bruce answered. ‘We’ve just been trying to deal with it.’

Leaning in, Thor wrapped his arms around Bruce, who gratefully took the moment of comfort. He buried his face in the crook of Thor’s neck, breathing in the familiar scent as they stayed like that for a few moments in silence.

‘I don’t want you to ever feel like you have to go through anything alone,’ said Thor in a low voice after a moment.

Bruce didn’t respond to that, and instead let himself be held. There was still a vague sense of guilt gnawing at him. He knew that he could have avoided all this by talking to Thor, and saved them both from going through this situation.

‘What are you thinking, darling?’ Thor asked eventually.

Bruce shrugged, and much to his dismay Thor pulled away, giving Bruce a concerned look.

‘I’m thinking about how stupid I was acting,’ Bruce said, casting his eyes down. ‘I don’t want you to feel guilty about all this.’

‘You weren’t acting stupid,’ Thor said, and Bruce opened his mouth to interject, but Thor added, ‘Really, you weren’t. The only stupid thing is that we both didn’t just… talk about all this sooner.’

‘Yeah, that’s pretty stupid of us,’ said Bruce quietly.

‘At least now it’s out in the open, we can learn from it in the future, right?’

‘Right,’ Bruce answered with a small smile. Thor’s hand caressed his cheek, and he looked up to meet his partner’s gaze.

‘I love you,’ Thor said softly. ‘So much.’

Instead of replying, Bruce leant forward and kissed Thor, wrapping his arms around him again.

When they parted, Thor ran a hand through Bruce’s hair, placing a kiss on his forehead.

‘We should go home,’ he said.

‘I mean, I am home,’ Bruce responded with a slight smile. ‘For the first time in a while.’

‘Do you want to stay here?’

‘Not really,’ said Bruce truthfully. ‘It’s a little quiet here.’

Thor looked around the room and hummed in agreement, looking thoughtful.

‘Why don’t you move in with me?’ he asked suddenly.

Bruce gave him a slightly surprised look, before saying, ‘Sweetheart, I don’t think this is the right time to discuss that after everything that’s happened today.’

‘But it makes sense, doesn’t it?’ Thor countered. ‘You more or less live at my flat anyway- we might as well make it official.’

Of course it made sense- Bruce couldn’t deny he hadn’t thought about it a lot. He hated this flat, after all, and loved Thor more than anything in the world.

‘We’ll discuss this in the morning,’ he said. ‘When we’re both a little more clear-headed.’

He tried to ignore the slight look of disappointment from Thor.

‘But it does make sense,’ he added, earning him a smile.

‘Come on,’ said Thor, getting to his feet and taking Bruce’s hand. ‘Let’s go home.’

 

* * *

 

It was in the early hours of the morning once they arrived back at Thor’s flat, and there was a light on in the living room.

Bruce peaked through and saw that Loki was lying on the couch, still dressed in the clothes he was wearing at the wedding and tucked under a blanket, fast asleep.

‘Loki?’ said Thor from behind Bruce. ‘I told him to go to bed.’

Loki stirred and opened his eyes when he heard the voices in the room.

‘Oh good,’ he murmured at the sight of Bruce. ‘You found him.’

‘Why didn’t you go to bed?’ asked Thor.

‘I was worried-‘ began Loki in a sleepy voice, but caught himself and cleared his voice. ‘I mean, I wasn’t worried, I was just- in case you needed my help or something, or needed to talk- no, in case you…’

He rubbed his face and sighed.

‘You could just admit you were worried about your brother, you know,’ said Bruce with a grin, and Thor chuckled.

‘I wasn’t worried,’ repeated Loki stubbornly, before getting up from the couch and heading out of the living room.

Before he went into his bedroom, he paused and turned to the pair standing in the hallway.

‘Glad you two made up, or whatever,’ said Loki, before disappearing into his room.

Bruce turned to Thor and smiled, before taking his hand and heading to their own room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the penultimate chapter finished, guys!!! 
> 
> In other news, let me take a moment to plug my [fundraising fic commissions](https://ragnarokdad.tumblr.com/post/180209745459/fundraising-commissions)


	9. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'You make my life infinitely richer.'

The first day had gone surprisingly well- Bruce had forgotten that college was filled with people that actually _wanted_ to learn as opposed children who were being forced to attend classes. The environment suited him- not that he didn’t like teaching at the high school as well, but the change was good, he decided, as he walked back home that day.

Bruce had become a lot more aware that he thought of Thor’s flat when he thought of home. It wasn’t his home- not really, not yet- but he couldn’t help but think that Thor had been right the previous week. It made so much more sense to just move in with Thor. He wanted to, as well, but old habits die hard and the idea of making a step as big as that- a step he had never taken before, either- did scare him slightly.

What if it went badly? What if they broke up somewhere down the line and Bruce would have to move out again? Besides, they had not once discussed the matter with Loki, either, what if he didn’t agree?

As Bruce trudged up the stairs in Thor’s building and let himself into the flat, his anxieties dissipated slightly when he walked into the kitchen and saw Thor there, working away at dinner.

Thor turned around when he heard Bruce walk in and smiled widely, walking up to him and wrapping his arms around him.

‘How was your first day?’ Thor asked.

‘Not bad at all,’ answered Bruce. ‘I actually kind of enjoyed it.’

‘Yeah? That’s good.’

Bruce smiled, before standing on his toes to kiss Thor. Thor smiled into the kiss, before pulling away and heading back to the stove while Bruce took a seat at the kitchen table.

‘What’re you cooking?’ he asked as he watched Thor getting back to work.

‘Just some risotto.’

‘Hm, smells good,’ Bruce commented, before diving into his bag to retrieve some papers that still needed marking.

This was often the highlight of his day, Bruce realised. Most late afternoons ended up like this, with Thor cooking as Bruce worked on some papers or class preparation, as they chatted idly about this or that.

‘Hey,’ Bruce said, looking back up at Thor. ‘Have you ever thought about going to culinary school?’

‘Not really,’ Thor replied, turning around to face Bruce. ‘How come?’

‘I just think you might enjoy it,’ said Bruce. ‘And you’re an amazing cook- you’d get in no problem.’

‘Well, that might be something I should think about when life isn’t all so…’ Thor made a vague gesture with his hands. ‘All over the place.’

‘If we’ve learnt anything from the past few weeks, it’s that life’s always going to be all over the place,’ Bruce pointed out.

‘That’s true,’ Thor said, taking a seat opposite Bruce. ‘But we’re in the middle of big decisions at the moment, aren’t we?’

‘Are we?’

‘Well,’ Thor continued. ‘We are if… if you’ve given moving in any more thought.’

He smiled meekly at Bruce, who sighed and reached his hand over the table to take Thor’s.

‘I have,’ Bruce said. ‘And I want to. I’m just… worried what would happen if it didn’t work out?’

‘Why wouldn’t it work out?’ asked Thor. ‘You’ve been here basically every day for months.’

‘I don’t know, anything could happen, Loki might not like it, you could finally grow sick of me-‘

‘Bruce, darling,’ Thor interrupted, squeezing Bruce’s hand. ‘Have you ever thought about maybe thinking of the best case scenario? That everything stays the same except you don’t have to pay rent for a flat you don’t live in? That everything carries on as normal and that we continue to love each other very much?’

Bruce smiled slightly, and shook his head. ‘I’m just being practical.’

‘If you’re scared,’ said Thor. ‘We can hold off. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. But I also know that you’re prone to thinking about all the ways it could go wrong.’

Bruce knew that Thor was right- his reasoning not to move in were all based off of what-if scenarios.

‘I also can’t imagine myself ever growing sick of you,’ said Thor softly. ‘You make my life infinitely richer.’

Bruce met Thor’s gaze and lifted Thor hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of it.

‘We should do it,’ said Bruce, caught of guard with how emotional he sounded. ‘We should move in together.’

Thor’s expression lit up, and he got out of his seat to go to the other side of the table and kiss Bruce.

‘No need to be so dramatic,’ Bruce said with a grin on his face and tears in his eyes. ‘Aren’t we basically already living together anyway?’

 

* * *

 

Bruce and Thor were lying on the couch together- they were alone, as Loki had told Thor that he’d be home later that evening.

This turned out well for them, as Bruce was curled up in Thor’s arms, barely paying attention to whatever they were watching on the TV. Thor was placing stray kisses on Bruce’s head and face- Bruce was very much enjoying the attention.

Basking in the comfort of the moment, Bruce was almost taken by surprise when the front door slammed, signalling that Loki had returned.

He sat up properly, to which Thor made a protesting noise, trying to pull him back in his arms. Bruce laughed, leaning in to give him another kiss.

‘Let’s not annoy your brother even more with our grossness,’ said Bruce, and Thor sighed dramatically.

‘Yes, let’s not,’ said Loki as he came into the room, and sat in the armchair across from the couch.

Thor smiled at Loki. ‘Where were you?’

Loki’s expression fell ever so slightly, almost unnoticeably. ‘Having dinner with Hela.’

Thor looked a little surprised. ‘Oh. How was it?’

‘It was good,’ said Loki, looking down at his hands. ‘She’s going back to London tomorrow.’

‘Is she, now?’

‘Don’t pretend you aren’t happy about that,’ Loki bit back suddenly.

‘That’s not-’ Thor said, sitting up as he spoke. ‘That’s not relevant right now. I know you had a good time with her, it must suck for you.’

Bruce reached over and took Thor’s hand, giving it a small squeeze in an attempt at comfort.

‘She asked if I wanted to go to London with her,’ said Loki, sitting back in his chair.

‘She- oh,’ Thor answered, now looking stunned. ‘Oh. Right.’

There was a beat of silence.

‘Look, I understand that you want to go,’ began Thor. ‘But-‘

‘Hold on,’ interrupted Loki. ‘I never said I was going.’

‘But don’t you want to?’ asked Thor. ‘I mean, don’t you think you would enjoy it more?’

‘Do you… _want_ me to leave?’ Loki asked, his eyes narrowing.

‘Okay, I have a feeling neither of you are handling this conversation really well,’ Bruce interjected. ‘And I can’t sit through another argument between you two just because of your terrible communication.’

Loki gave Bruce an annoyed look, while Thor just seemed surprised as Bruce spoke.

‘Thor doesn’t want you to leave, Loki- in fact, he’s really scared that you _will_ leave,’ Bruce told Loki before turning to Thor. ‘And by the sounds of it, Loki wasn’t planning on leaving in the first place.’

Thor cast his gaze down at the floor, and Loki looked away as well.

‘ _Right,_ Thor?’ prompted Bruce, giving Thor a nudge.

Thor sighed. ‘Right. I really don’t want you to leave, Loki.’

‘I don’t want to leave,’ muttered Loki.

‘I thought you did because- well, because we argue, and you like Hela so much,’ Thor said, finally looking back up at him. ‘And she was so set on taking you to London.’

‘Well, I like it here more,’ Loki said. ‘And I guess I like you, too. She wasn’t happy, but it’s not really her choice, anyway.’

Thor smiled slightly. ‘I’m sorry that I’ve argued with you so much lately. It’s just been… difficult, I suppose, thinking that I was competing with Hela.’

‘You’re not,’ said Loki, gazing down at his hands. ‘And I guess I’ve been difficult.’

‘’S not that bad,’ Thor answered. ‘I can handle it.’

‘Good,’ said Loki with the slightest of grins. ‘’Cause I’m not planning on leaving anytime soon.’

He stood up from the chair, about to head back into the hallway.

‘Oh, Loki, hold on,’ called Thor. ‘Uh, Bruce and I have some news.’

Loki turned back around, raising his eyebrows. ‘Are you two engaged?’

‘Uh, what?’ Bruce said with a laugh. ‘No, we’re still a few steps behind. I’m moving in- if that’s okay with you, of course.’

‘I thought you already lived here,’ said Loki with a frown. ‘You still have your old flat?’

‘Well uh, yeah,’ Bruce replied.

Loki shrugged. ‘Well, that’s dumb.’

With those words, he sauntered out of the room.

‘I mean, he’s not wrong,’ Bruce said, turning to Thor with a smile.

‘He’s not,’ agreed Thor, pulling Bruce up close to him again.

Bruce curled up, smiling as Thor’s hand found his curls, weaving his fingers through them.

‘It sounds like he’s okay with it, though,’ commented Thor.

‘Yeah,’ Bruce answered. ‘It sounds like things are going to be just fine.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your patience and support for this part of the BBSG series! I honestly don't know if I would've been able to finish it without all you guys' encouragement!!


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